That said, it was probably the loudest cheer until the half-time whistle as a game that initially started well descended into a dogfight with few chances.

Still, Ireland were always willing to give it a go and had more of the ball in the first half with O’Neill giving his players licence to roam.

True, much of it was long ball stuff to Walters, Long and Stokes but the pitch was in a dire state and never conducive to flowing football.

But the opening minutes were certainly encouraging, if only for the fact Ireland finally managed to keep a clean sheet in Poznan beyond the 10 minute mark.

Aiden McGeady, for the second game in a row, turned in an eye-catching display until being replaced.

The Spartak Moscow man cut in off the left flank numerous times to provide a more central attacking threat for the three front men who alternated their roles.

Walters may have started on the right, but he played as a striker for the most part.

It was his flick on, from a McGeady corner, where Ireland should have opened the scoring on 21 minutes, only for Stephen Kelly to drive his header into the ground from six yards.

Soon after, Stokes just failed to connect after Marc Wilson diverted another McGeady dead ball his way with the Polish defence stretched and at sea.

Poland skipper Jakub Blaszczykowski tried to test David Forde with a couple of attempts but they both dribbled his way and Poland rarely looked like scoring.

Sean St Ledger was then forced off with a groin injury and John O’Shea replaced him – although the Sunderland man’s first touch was a Harlem Globetrotter intervention when plucking the ball from the air with his hands after Robert Lewandowski’s cheeky chip.

He was booked by the Slovakian referee although the Polish fans and players were up in arms as the Borussia Dortmund striker would have galloped towards goal, albeit not one-on-one with Forde.

Ireland were blessed in the opening minutes of the second-half as Kelly allowed Blaszczykowski to slalom into the box only for the skipper to waste his chance close in.

Forde then saved a Lukasz Szukala header while at the other end, Long was at full stretch to steer home a low James McClean cross but couldn’t connect.

For the remainder, both sides continued to lack conviction inside the box but for O’Neill and Roy Keane there were positives to pick from the carcass.

Yes it was only a friendly but if nothing else these players proved they can come out and play a little on the road, and that’s got to be a good thing.